Goodwood Revival: behind the pre-war Bentley 4?-Litre, lovingly remodelled in wood
Why would anybody want a wooden car? Surely it is mostly to do with a stubborn refusal to let go of the past.
The only timber-clad cars you saw when I was growing up were Morris Minor Travellers. Morris was never exactly the Tesla of its day, so fitting planks of wood to the side just added to the sense that rather than having an engine to provide the horsepower, the driver would prefer to be using actual horses.
This beautiful Bentley here, however, puts a very different sheen on the notion of a wooden car. The car, being auctioned by Bonhams at the Goodwood Revival, began life in 1937 as a Vanden Plas-bodied Bentley 4?-Litre with all woodwork confined to the dashboard – the body itself originally did not have a splinter of wood in sight.
The 4?-Litre was one of the finest cars of its generation, one of the models made by Bentley in its first decade under Rolls-Royce ownership. Around 2,500 examples of the so-called Derby Bentleys were made at the Rolls-Royce factory in Derby in the 1930s, and established Bentley’s reputation for sportier, edgier versions of its more understated Rolls-Royce cousins.
This high performance, combined with typical Rolls-Royce grace, led to the Derby Bentley being referred to in sales literature as the Silent Sports Car. The nickname was used by Bentley for subsequent models right up until the 1950s, and even now any Derby Bentley fan worth the name is proud to be a member of the Silent Sports Car Club.
This particular car is one of the more developed versions of the Bentleys made in Derby between 1933 and 1940. It came with a larger, more powerful engine than earlier models and was endowed with smoother road-holding. This one survived the war and then somewhere around 1950 was treated to a lovingly executed conversion to the ways of wood by a highly renowned Berkshire coachbuilder called Vincent’s of Reading.
The result is a car so lovely, at least to these eyes, that is makes you reconsider wood as a bodywork choice. The wooden car can indeed be a thing of great beauty.
The 1937 Bentley 4?-Litre 'Woodie' Shooting Brake is Lot 216 in the Bonhams Goodwood Revival sale on Saturday 8th September 2018. Estimate ￡100,000 - ￡125,000; Bonhams.com
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